Manipulation
by CritterKeeper
Summary: A conversation between The Official and The Keeper, about Darien's future....


Manipulation  
  
by CritterKeeper  
  
  
  
  
  
"You said you could break him in."  
  
"Well, I didn't say it would be easy....blackmailing him with a shot of counteragent won't make him a willing participant."  
  
They watched the ranting, straight-jacketed figure a moment in silence.  
  
"This guy's about to turn into a walking Id. What are you going to do, just hold back on his shot?"  
  
"No. No, I'm going to do more than that." The Keeper leaned closer to the glass, studying her patient. "I'm going to get him to trust me."  
  
"How long will that take?"  
  
"We'll have him under control, more or less, in a few weeks. Enough control to start using him. But the overall plan will take much longer."  
  
"Weeks? Months? Years?"  
  
"Couple of years, maybe."  
  
The Official grunted acknowledgement. He could be a patient man, when it was for the good of the Agency.  
  
Fawkes has slumped back against the far wall, banging the back of his head rhythmically against the padding behind him as he slid slowly to the floor. Neither observer was worried; the room was designed to prevent him from injuring himself.  
  
"Rough outline?"  
  
"First, we make sure he isn't going to try stealing the counteragent again. I can put him off for a while by telling him that I keep the counteragent in a concentrated form, and it has to be diluted properly before it's safe to use. By the time he notices I'm just drawing up a dose from a vial without dilution, he'll be far enough along I can claim I trust him now."  
  
"'Trust works both ways,' eh?" The Official quoted one of the Keeper's favorite rules for handling her charges. "If he thinks you're starting to trust him, he'll automatically trust you?"  
  
"It's not quite that simple, but it is a well-known quirk of human psychology, this need to trust and be trusted." She toyed idly with the syringe of counteragent in her pocket. "He'll have no choice but to trust me on a lot of things. I'll be the one giving him injections, and the doctor-patient relationship is certainly conducive to trust. His sanity will be in my hands, and when he loses it, I'll be the one to save him, every time. And we'll have to make sure he does lose it occasionally, to maintain a healthy fear of the madness as well as to reinforce my role."  
  
"Potential for casualties?"  
  
"Fawkes is basically a 'nice guy' and I think his aggressions will only be unleashed towards those he considers deserving, even in madness. You and I might qualify, depending on his mood, but I don't think bystanders will be his target. It's an acceptable risk."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
She turned and arched an eyebrow at the Official. "We can also make use of us-versus-them, harness his rebellion against authority by setting you up as the opposition to us both."  
  
"I thought you were fond of setting up a father figure?"  
  
"Oh, I am, but Fawkes's history indicates a distinct lack of male support. His father deserted him and his uncle neglected him in favor of Kevin. Deep down, he just isn't going to accept a warm and cuddly male authority figure, fond as you are of playing the role."  
  
She turned back to the padded cell, where her charge was still rhythmically banging his head, eyes closed, body almost relaxed except for the movement. The Keeper wondered whether he was actually close to falling asleep. Neither of them had slept in two days, but she suspected the madness was too close to allow him to relax that much.  
  
"You'll have to be stern, disapproving, distant. Darien's very choice of profession indicates he has a deep-seated need to find a link to a father figure, if we can just tap into it. He's been compared to his brother all his life, that's one of the fastest ways to get inside his head. Survivor syndrome will have him feeling guilty just for being alive, while his brother is dead, and his lifelong resentment of his brother's success will feed into that guilt. Echo the thought back at him, that his brother was the more valuable one, and challenge him to prove you wrong.  
  
"Once we've built a foundation for trust, you can start to show grudging approval. Tell him that he's got potential, that he's doing a good job when he puts his mind to it. Not too much, mind you, or his psyche won't accept it. Less is more."  
  
"What about your role? Can you set yourself up in opposition to me and still maintain your authority?"  
  
"Already got a plan for that. As I said, the very nature of our interactions will foster trust and dependence. And we can throw in a nice layer of guilt and attraction both when he inevitably decides to start spying on me."  
  
"You're going to let him?"  
  
"Oh, I'll do more than let him, I'll give him an eyefull! A little sexual tension never hurts the mix, and if I'm ever trapped with him in a state of madness without counteragent or help, I'd much rather have another direction to turn his impulses than just violence. But I'll work on humanizing his image of me in other ways, too. Remember Gloria?"  
  
"That little side project of yours? Are you still working on that?"  
  
"Here and there. But, to Darien, that's going to be the leash that you're using to hold me to the Agency."  
  
Puzzlement turned to comprehension. "Ah, the big bad Official making you work on his pet project in exchange for helping a fellow lab rat? What if he finds out you're the one who left her needing help in the first place?"  
  
"Oh, I'm going to tell him myself. A tearful admission that as a lowly tech I made a dreadful error I've been trying to fix, without success, ever since." She watched Fawkes lean his head forward onto the floor, his body following until he lay flat, face pressed into the padding. "I've learned just about all I can from Gloria anyway, so we can kill two birds with one stone, dig up that cure we found a few years ago and get her out of our hair while giving Darien an healthy sense of accomplishment, a nice little happy ending he can see as proof that he can do good if he accepts this 'job.'"  
  
"If she's what's holding you here, then how will you explain staying after that?"  
  
"Why, I'm staying to cure him, of course! That's the whole point of the story, that when I feel responsible for someone I'll do anything to help them. As far as he's concerned, I derailed my career for ten years and worked for an Agency which, no offense, no one in their right mind would choose to join, just to try to help Gloria. He'll be too busy enjoying his happy ending, and thinking he has my full attention now, to wonder about the coincidence of timing, that I just happened to come up with a cure just after he found out about her."  
  
"I like it."  
  
Fawkes slowly rolled over onto his back, staring up at the white ceiling with bloodshot eyes. His Keeper checked her watch. Still a few minutes left before he reached the critical stage, time for her big entrance.  
  
"I can see how this will start to affect him, but will it really bring him around?"  
  
"Well, we'll need at least one crisis, maybe more. Opportunites will arise."  
  
"I'd like to partner him with Hobbes. Not only is Hobbes a good agent, underneath all that psychological baggage, but I think both of them being crazy in their own way, they'll each have to help the other. It'll help keep them from feeling too sorry for themselves. Hobbes's handler says he needs to be the competent one in his next pairing, he's getting too close to the nutso end of the scale. Besides, they've worked together once already; no need to expand the number of people who know about Fawkes."  
  
"Hmm....I can work with that. Let me check Hobbes's psych profile. Might be able to make use of him for my program too. Is he likely to pursue a relationship with a co-worker?"  
  
"Who, Hobbes? No, definitely not. One of his rules." The Official laughed once. "Along with loyalty to his country, his job, and his partner. Maybe some of that will rub off on Fawkes too."  
  
"Probably. Hmm, it might work....if I get Hobbes interested, then Fawkes will feel like he'd be encroaching on his partner's turf by approaching me. They'll both be drawn, but both be blocked. I think I like that."  
  
"Just clear it with Hobbes' handler first. She can drop a few things into their therapy sessions to help you out, and you can avoid stepping on her plans."  
  
"Just remember Fawkes is the priority."  
  
"I'll make that clear to her. Just don't take advantage too often."  
  
"Only when I feel it necessary."  
  
Fawkes suddenly exploded into a tirade against his brother, alternately cursing Kevin and pleading with him to come back and save him from the impending madness. Claire listened with half her mind; she could analyze the recordings at leisure when the current phase was concluded.  
  
"One problem. He's a thief. He's also intelligent enough to figure out the chemistry involved in your synthesis. He'll certainly have enough incentive to apply himself. What's to stop him from stealing the formula for counteragent and figuring out how to make his own supply? He could get free of our control before these schemes have time to work."  
  
"Oh, no," she said with a deceptively gentle smile. "I intend to have him almost as afraid of the counteragent as he is of the madness."  
  
The Official turned fully from the ravings on the other side of the glass to stare at the Keeper. "And just how do you intend to do that? I thought it was the addiction, the attraction to the counteragent, that would be most useful."  
  
"Attraction and fear. A powerful combination of feelings."  
  
"Fear of the addiction? You didn't see his face when he saw me holding that syringe in the cemetary."  
  
"Better than that. I'm going to make him fear for his life *and* his sanity, until he's grateful to me for saving him from himself."  
  
"What are you going to do, tell him counteragent is toxic?"  
  
"I'm going to tell him that if he uses too much, he'll build up a resistance to it. It'll lose its effect, leaving him permanently insane. And then the big bad Official will make me salvage the gland, killing him in the process."  
  
The Official stood frozen for a moment. "Is any of that true? Is there a danger of --"  
  
She waved her hand, dismissing the idea. "It's a direct chemical counteragent to the quicksilver. A few extraneous effects on his system to cause the addiction, but its main effect has nothing to do with his body chemistry."  
  
The Official began to chuckle, then to guffaw. "I love it. I assume that's part of why you plan to let him go over the edge a few times."  
  
"I'll be very reluctant to give him counteragent. He'll believe I don't want to allow him to hurt anyone, so it must be a serious threat for me to take that risk. It's all to protect him, of course."  
  
"Of course." He chuckled again. "Is that how you'll convince him to go along with your monitor?"  
  
"Naturally. Let him have a few close calls, early enough on that he hasn't learned to read the physical signs. Then give him a monitor to check, so that he doesn't have to pay attention to his symptoms and learn to judge his own condition."  
  
"And we get a way to keep track of how far along he is, and know when he's been abusing the invisibility, whether he wants us to know or not."  
  
They watched through the window again in silence. He was on his knees, rocking back and forth, muttering to himself. The words were inaudible without enhancement, but the tone was dark and deadly.  
  
"You said two years. Do you have a plan to bring him around for good?"  
  
"Of course. Has to do with the resistance to counteragent."  
  
"Going to make him think it's happening? How?"  
  
"Gradually reduce the dose. I can dilute it out until it's no longer fully effective. Perhaps try out a few alternate formulas he would never accept without the threat of permanent insanity. And then, just when he sees the end approaching, I come to the rescue with a new version."  
  
"Which is really the old version."  
  
"Yes, well, you'd be amazed what a little change in color will do to convince people it's a different medicine. It's even a trick I can repeat, if needed. And when, eventually, I do untangle Arnaud's knot of twisted DNA, and figure out how to cure the quicksilver madness problem, we'll have the agent Kevin Fawkes dreamed of, willing and eager, in full control of himself and under our full control."  
  
"I expect to be kept fully apprised of any developments in that area. And for you to get clearance before initiating any of these steps." He looked sternly at the scientist. "This is *not* the time for one of your unauthorized side experiments. Anything that might affect the gland, or its host, adversely, you will explain to me the risks and benefits. Do *not* forget who is in charge here. If history repeats itself, you'll find I'm not as forgiving as the DoD."  
  
Fawkes seemed to be winding down again. He sat cross-legged, silently, eyes slightly glazed, as if his attention were elsewhere. Listening to the whispers in his head, perhaps. Claire glanced at her watch.  
  
"It's time."  
  
"Good luck."  
  
"Luck has little to do with it," she said dismissively.  
  
"True. That's why you're here."  
  
The Official remained in the observation room as the Keeper went to confront her new charge. She was the best. He had confidence in her abilities. Sooner or later, the Invisible Man would be theirs, whether he knew it or not.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Do I 'really' think that the Keeper is like that? Well, within the series, probably not, but it's great fun to think about what might be going on inside a character's head! Watching too much of "The Sandbaggers" has left me with a suspicious mind and a fondness for manipulation and double-dealing....I find myself modeling my image of the Official after Neil Burnside. Yet I'm also a hopeless romantic and Bobby/Claire shipper. As Walt Whitman said, "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes."  
  
I considered including this in my "Insights" series, but couldn't decide what episode to name it for -- it's set during the start of Catavari, but the insight came from Enemy Of My Enemy. First, when Darien told Arnaud he'd developed an immunity to counteragent, Arnaud's reaction was disbelief. "That's impossible!" Maybe he was right about that? Second, when EomE first aired, several people commented that the syringe Claire injected Darien with at the end of the episode didn't look like it had counteragent in it. Too pale, everyone cried. Maybe they were right and it *was* too pale to be counteragent? At least, full-strength counteragent....  
  
Reviews are, as always, appreciated! :-) 


End file.
